William m



UNITED STATES PATENT UEETQE.

\VILLIAM M. DUCKER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

CORSET-FASTENING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 398,136, dated February 19, 1889. Application filed September 25, 1888- Serial No. 286,318. (No modeh) To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM M. DUCKER, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city of New York, in the county and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Corset-Fastenings; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form part of this specification.

My invention relates to a corset-fastening device which will hold the parts securely in position against the ordinary pressure or strain to which a device of this kind is usually subjected, which is not liable to become unfastened by any of the ordinary movements of the body of the wearer, which can be easily adjusted to fasten the corset and by which the corset can be quickly unfastened, which is simple and can be cheaply made and readily applied to corset-steels such as are commonly in use, and which will project but little above the surface of the steels and can be readily covered to present a neat appearance by the usual coverings employed for this purpose.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is afront view of my fastening as it appears when applied to a pair of corset-steels when the same are covered in the usual manner. Fig. 2 is a section of Fig. 1 on the line a; on. Fig. 3 is a front view of the steels and fastenings, as in Fig. 1, with the covering removed. Fig. 4 is a back view of the steel 13, showing the back of the guide-plate. Fig. 5 is a section of Fig. 3 on the line 00 00 Fig. (3 is a similar view showing the position of the parts when the corset is to be unfastened. Fig. 7 is a section of the steel B in Fig. 3 on the line :11 00. Fig. 8 is another illustration of my invention. Fig. 9 is an edge view of Fig. 8, showing the spring-catch b in section on the line 00 :0

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts in all the drawings.

In the example of my invention illustrated in the drawings, A. and B are corset-steels, and O is material of the corset such as is ordinarly used for covering such steels.

One of the fastenings, a, consists of a suit able catch adapted to be secured to a corset steel, and having an engaging part or hook, a, to engage with a suitable retaining device on the other corset-steel. This may be made of any suitable material, and is conveniently riveted in position, as indicated in the draw ings.

To engage with and retain the part a, I provide a spring-catch, b, adapted to be secured on the other corset-steel opposite to the part a. This spring-catch b is provided with a suitable slot or recess, Z), to receive the hook part CL and hold the same in position, thereby fastening the corset, as indicated in Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 5. The free end of this catch part 1) projects beyond the slot 1) far enough to rest upon or against the other catch, and maybe slightly bent downward, as shown in the drawings, to facilitate disengagement, as hereinafter described.

To facilitate engagement of the parts, I provide a guide-plate, c; which is disposed under the spring-piece b, and may be secured to the steel by the same rivet that fastens the part b. This plate 0 has a lip c, which is turned back upon itself, and between this lip and the steel 13 the edge of covering material is disposed, as shown clearly in Fig. 2. This protects the covering material against fraying at the edge, and also prevents it slipping in between the piece I) and the steel B, where it might catch on the hook ct. The upper edges of the guide-plate c are turned up, as most clearly shown in Figs. '7 and 9, and the spring-pieee 1) lies upon the turned-up parts, thus forming a groove or ehannehwhich guides the part a into the desired position.

For ordinary use the slot 1) in the springpiece b is formed by simply cutting out a part of the material, leaving the slot open, allowing the hook part a to project above the upper surface of the piece I), as shown in Figs. 2 and 5. hen the covering material to be used is very thin, or when for any other reason such. projection is undesirable, the slot Z) may be covered by a suitable hood, L as clearly shown in Figs. 8 and 9. This hood over the slot b is conveniently formed by striking up or indenting the material of the part b at the place of the slot without cutting away any portion of it.

The operation of the invention is as follows: When it is desired to fasten the corset, the parts are brought opposite to each other, the projecting hook part a is inserted between the under side of the spring-piece b and the guide-piece 0, between the ears 0 0 which serve to guide it readily into position, the spring-piece b thereby being pushed away from the guide-plate 0 until the hook at comes opposite the recess Z). NVhen that point is reached, the spring-piece b snaps down and holds the hook at engaged in the recess 1), and thereby fastens the corset securely, as shown in Fig. 2. When it is desired to un? fasten the corset, it is only necessary to grasp the ends of the steels A and B and force their edges slightly inward, (against the person-0f the wearer,) whereby the free end of the catch part b will be pressed up, raising the slot 1) out of engagement with the hook part a, as shown in Fig. 6, and the series of catches will be disengaged.

I do not claim, broadly, a corset-fastening consisting of a spring-catch and a suitable catch to engage therewith; but,

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

A corset-fastening consisting of a stiff catch, a, and hook portion a, adapted to be secured to one corset-steel, in combination with a spring-catch, 1), adapted to be secured to the opposite corset-steel, such spring-catch Z) being provided with a centrally-located slot, as b, a guide-plate, 0, disposed between the spring-catch and the steel, having a turnedback portion, c',and ears 0 0 supporting the spring-catch above the guide-plate and forming a suitable opening adapted to receive the stiff catch and to be disengaged therefrom by bringing the outer ends of the catches toward each other, substantially as described and shown.

WILLIAM M. DUCKER.

Witnesses:

AUGUSTUS T. GURLITZ, CARWIN II. PrKE. 

